David Greer, the “semi-retired” CEO of Wire Belt Company of America, will receive the Business & Industry Association’s Lifetime Achievement Award, adding to the Lifetime Achievement Award he received from the UNH CEO & Family Enterprise Center in 2021.
Greer is humbled by the honors.
“We’re a small manufacturing company,” he said. “I just wanted to do the right thing and was surprised by the accolades.”
Greer will receive the Lifetime Achievement Award at BIA’s 111th Annual Dinner and Awards Celebration, presented by Eversource, Oct. 23 at the DoubleTree by Hilton in Manchester. Teresa Rosenberger, senior advisor with the Bernstein Shur law firm, and New Hampshire Senate President Jeb Bradley will also receive Lifetime Achievement Awards, sponsored by Whelen Engineering Company. The Mental Health Center of Greater Manchester will receive BIA’s New Hampshire Advantage Award, sponsored by Bank of America. (For a list of past winners, visit https://bit.ly/BIAhonorees.)
Wire Belt, now based in Bedford, has manufactured conveyors and conveyor belting for over 60 years, supplying industries as varied as food and beverage, pharmaceutical, cosmetic, electronics, environmental services and automotive. In addition to New Hampshire, it has factories in the United Kingdom and Germany.
Greer, who adds “I’m mostly retired” after saying “semi-retired,” joined the family business after graduating from the University of Maine, Orono, with a degree in manufacturing engineering technology. He became CEO in 1980 at age 31, admitting he “was very young, inexperienced with no confidence.”
Greer was born in Boston and grew up in Lynnfield, Mass. He relocated Wire Belt to New Hampshire in 1989, setting up in Londonderry, after outgrowing its Winchester, Mass., location. The “New Hampshire advantage” and real estate market were key factors.
“New Hampshire’s tax structure was better and cheaper,” he added.
Greer deflects from individual honors, pointing to Wire Belt being named to Business NH Magazine’s “Top 10 Companies to Work for in NH” three times, winning the top spot once. Wire Belt was also the Business NH’s 2015 “Manufacturing Business of the Year.” Being recognized as one of the “Best Companies to Work for in NH” almost every year since 2008 put Wire Belt on the map, he said. But getting to that point was not easy.
“I joined a peer group when I took over, and that was probably the most important thing I did for my professional development,” he said. “The first group talked about values, and that’s where it started. It took a while for me to develop my values and share them. The value match between leader, company and employee is very important.”
Wire Belt stretches back to 1919 when his great grandfather, Jesse Wade Greer, founded the J.W. Greer Company in Cambridge, Mass. The company manufactured some of the world’s first automated confectionary and bakery equipment. The family sold J.W. Greer in the 1960s, but kept the smaller Wire Belt Company.
Greer said his grandfather, Fred Greer, was a “strong individual” with Yankee values: Stay conservative, overengineer, don’t go into debt and do what you say you’re going to do. The core values remain in this now fifth-generation family business, but Greer acknowledges the challenges of family-run enterprises.
“There’s a whole other factor of complication over regular businesses and my family is no different,” said Greer, one of five siblings. “My grandfather was very tough with my dad, and my dad didn’t want me to have that same experience.”
With the family dynamic in mind, Greer became active in the UNH CEO & Family Enterprise Center, serving multiple terms as chair of its Advisory Board. Executive Director and CEO Michelline Dufort said the center is stronger due to Greer’s leadership and involvement.
“He’s been a consistent and engaged member for decades in our world where family businesses best learn from each other as they navigate succession planning and generational transfer,” Dufort said. “He’s made a difference by listening, sharing and advising so many of his peers, and we truly would not be the organization we are today without his wise and warm counsel.”
Greer has handed Wire Belt’s reins to his nephew Jon Greer, who became president in 2023 following a successful run as a business consultant in Seattle. Greer said he carefully planned the transition over four years. The two are now focused on strengthening Jon’s oversight of Wire Belt’s oversees operations, which Greer admits can be complicated. Greer continues to share his leadership experience with his nephew, who followed him in serving on the CEO & Family Enterprise Center’s Advisory Board.
“I saw what my granddad did with my dad and what my dad did with me,” Greer said. “I saw what being too controlling and too hands off did. I was allowed to find my own way and made so many mistakes getting there. I did find my way. The key was just trying to keep myself as a mentor versus either end of the spectrum.”
Strong family values remain Wire Belt’s North Star, Greer said. “My philosophy for business is pretty simple. Tell people what you’re going to do and go do it. And treat everyone with respect.”
Greer’s involvement in his community and state includes working with the NH Bring Back the Trades organization and serving on BIA’s board of directors. Whether it’s running Wire Belt or volunteering his expertise, Greer points to a twofold personal mission.
“I wanted to show our community that businesses can do good,” he said. “The other reason is that I want to grow manufacturing in New Hampshire. I don’t understand how a country can be successful without making stuff. I just don’t see how that works. During COVID we saw all the supply issues, that all things are made in China. You have to make stuff. That’s where real economic growth comes from.”
For tickets to BIA’s Annual Dinner and to see a list of event sponsors, visit https://bit.ly/BIAAnnualDinner2024.
Rick Fabrizio is BIA’s director of communications and public policy.
